Google AMP becomes one of the hottest topics in the blogging world, it started attracting more webmasters with the time and you need to do the same. However, don’t forget that many tools offering Google AMP integration with WordPress are causing errors and lots of wrong HTML and CSS errors.
For that reason, I’ve tested all the available plugins for WordPress AMP to find the best one. So, here is the list.
Accelerated mobile pages on WordPress
AMP by WordPress
This is the first plugin launched especially for WordPress. The team of Automattic built the tool to support WordPress users with the features that the AMP project offers. In fact, you don’t have to do anything except installing the plugin and activating it. That’s it, the lightweight tool adds AMP to every post on your blog. So, when Google requests the accelerated mobile page of the post, it gets it.
To verify that your blog works with AMP, add /amp to one of your posts and you’ll get the lightweight version that Google uses as a cache.
The only problem with this tool is that you can’t customize anything. There is no option to add your logo, updating the header, or even adding a menu.
WP AMP
This is the best AMP plugin for WordPress, it’s a premium tool that works for all the posts, pages, and even WooCommerce. So, if you want to get AMP for all your website content, then, use this plugin, it does the job professionally and no other tool offers the same features.
WP AMP also integrates with Yoast SEO and All in SEO pack, so, there is no need to worry about SEO here. Additionally, the plugin works with WooCommerce and you can take your online store’s mobile traffic to the next level using it.
For Videos, the plugin adds AMP for that and it saves a lot of time working on video optimizations and coding.
Unlike all the AMP WordPress plugins, this tool works for the following types of content:
- Your posts
- Pages
- Categories
- Tags
- Not found pages
- Videos
- Custom post types
- Search pages
- Product pages, etc…
All in all, it’s the premium AMP plugin that every professional WordPress user needs especially those who sell products.
If you use Google Adsense, then, this toot works better for you. It comes with full Adsense integration with ad blocks. Furthermore, you can customize the look of your mobile pages with a few clicks. The plugin offer header customization, adding your site logo, adjusting the font size and colors, the footer, and even the post meta details.
This is a screenshot of the plugin, so, you can have an idea about the main settings. By the way, you can add your Google Analytics tracking code, and yes, this AMP plugin supports Google analytics.
This plugin costs $39 one-time fees, and it’s worth the small investment in a high-quality tool that I recommend for all.
AMP for WP
This is another tool you can install and use, however, in my test, it can slow down your site especially if you use shared web hosting. If you do, make sure you enable a caching plugin like W 3 total cache. That way, you help your site reducing the number of requests and avoid slow loading time.
The plugin support customizations and you can adjust the design as you need.
Facebook instant article and Google AMP
This is a popular WordPress plugin that optimizes your site for both Facebook and Google mobile pages. You can customize the design and add your Google Analytics code. Please note that this plugin lets you exclude or include mobile support in your post admin area. So, make sure the option is enabled to get the benefits.
AMP Glue for Yoast
This add-on helps to customize the main parts of your website like header, logo, and more. Also, it adds the Yoast metadata to your AMP versions of the site. I recommend using this plugin only if you struggle with the layout and you find issues with other plugins. The reason is that the plugin doesn’t support pages right now and it will be enabled in the future. So, if you have lots of pages, then, use other tools instead.
AMP Author Box
This is a great add-on for any of the above tools. It lets you add your own author box and customize it by following the AMP best practices. Unlike any regular author box plugins, this one is fully optimized for speed and it uses less CSS and coding for better speed.
The settings area lets you add your social links to your bio and best of all, it supports structured data.
HTML Sitemap
This is a must-have AMP plugin if you care about SEO. Of course, it won’t boost your traffic as many expect, but it helps search engines finding all your posts and pages and crawl them. This plugin creates a list of all your AMP pages and posts, then, you can use a shortcode to show the list. That way, you can offer the same HTML sitemap you use in the desktop version.
AMP WooCommerce
If you installed the default WordPress accelerate mobile pages plugin, and you have an eCommerce site, then use this tool. It adds support for eCommerce and you’ll save lots of time fixing issues on your product pages.
Better AMP
While this plugin offers lots of options, it may not work with any WordPress configuration and settings. I tested it and it works with an ugly layout and there are issues with caching plugins like WP Super Cache. Without a doubt, you can solve the problem if you look at your configurations, but for beginners, that can be a struggling task. However, you can give the plugin a try, and clear your WordPress cache. Then, see if you get what you expect as layout or remove the plugin completely.
Which AMP tool is better?
Keep it simple and install the default WordPress AMP, then, customize the design and add Google analytics, use one of the above plugins, and test your site layout. If you find issues and broken layout, then, remove that tool and use another one.
The reason for that is the nature of these accelerated pages that remove lots of CSS and HTML. Some tools cause conflicts with others and it’s complicated to investigate everything and correct it.
Until now, AMP is under development and it’s not fully working and error-free. So, keep testing and share your results with us. So, we get better tools that we might have no idea about. If you have a good plugin, use the contact page and we’ll add it here.
